Win back website visitors! Retargeting 101 for local businesses

Are you losing website visitors or local traffic? If you notice a decline in your overall web statistics, both in traffic and sales, you may need to change your online marketing strategy. If you run a local business, you still need to pay attention to your web traffic. In this modern age, it's difficult to rely solely on foot traffic and print advertising.

One option that could help you win back some of that lost traffic is retargeting for local businesses. Retargeting is a type of online advertising that ensures your previous visitors are regularly reminded to visit your website or order a new product or service via online adverts.As a small business owner, you don't want to spend a fortune on internet advertising Retargeting can help you win back your website visitors and attract more local business.

How retargeting works

When you use retargeting, you are trying to get local visitors to come back and buy products or services that they have already viewed. In this way, you can reduce the bounce rate and increase the number of returning visitors at the same time. Retargeting is often much more cost-effective than other forms of marketing and advertising. Retargeting follows these steps:

1. A customer visits your website
2. He browses through your products or services
3. They leave your website without making a purchase
4. These visitors are targeted again with adverts on external sources
5. These visitors are then more likely to make a purchase

By tracking visitors who have viewed a particular product or service but not made a purchase, you can reach them with targeted advertising when they visit other websites or even social media platforms. When they see your advert, they will be reminded of the product or service, increasing the likelihood that the customer will visit your website and ultimately complete their order.

Why retargeting works

Retargeting is based on the idea that a visitor to a website does not always make a purchase the first time they see a product or service. Many consumers choose to research an item thoroughly before making a purchase. They may visit your shop in person, not make a purchase, and then go home to do more research. This can take days, and if they are not reminded, there is always the possibility that they will forget about the product or service.

With local retargeting, you can attract these visitors again with a focus on repetition. The repetition of information so that it sticks. This is the same concept behind using billboards and adverts in the local newspaper. People see your advert and remember that they have looked at your products or services.

Retargeting methods

There are several retargeting methods that are frequently used to bring local visitors to your website. These include remarketing via online adverts, search engine retargeting, CRM retargeting and email retargeting. Each type of retargeting is done in a different way, but in the hope of achieving the same results - namely returning customers.

Local remarketing

Remarketing is the term for retargeting, which is carried out using online advertising based on products or services that visitors have previously viewed. A few lines of code are added to your web pages. When a visitor views one of these pages, their web browser stores a cookie that your advertising network uses for remarketing adverts. If one of your previous visitors visits a website that displays adverts from the advertising network you use, they are more likely to see adverts for the product or service they previously viewed. If you choose to use local remarketing, you should focus on people who are in your region because the remarketing software you use should allow you to ignore IP addresses in other regions.

Search engine retargeting

Search engine retargeting works in a very similar way. When an internet user carries out a search, the search engine saves a cookie with this search term. Advertising networks use this to place targeted adverts. To make the most effective use of search engine retargeting for your local business, you should limit your efforts to search engine users who are in your city or region.

CRM retargeting

CRM retargeting is used with an email list that you have already created through your own leads or email sign-up lists.

E-mail targeting

Email retargeting works by placing a code in your emails. You can then target the people who have signed up to your email lists and show them adverts. To increase local engagement, have visitors enter their postcode when they sign up for your email list or newsletter.

Find the best local retargeting resources

When deciding on a type of retargeting, you should consider multiple methods. The combination of search engine marketing, remarketing, CRM retargeting and email retargeting can have a much bigger impact on your overall website traffic. For remarketing, CRM retargeting and search engine marketing, you need to find an ad network that offers a fair price for clicks and can work with retargeting strategies.

There are many ad delivery networks to choose from, with Yahoo being the largest company offering ad delivery solutions. To get started with Yahoo retargeting, you should contact a company that specialises in Yahoo advertising and retargeting. Recently, Yellow Pages, or now YP, has also started offering retargeting options for local businesses. If you have not already done so, make sure you have updated your listing on the YP website.

Google AdWords, one of the most popular pay-per-click options, also offers retargeting options when you set up a campaign. Check out this helpful guide from Google on how to Setting up retargeting lists with your Google AdWords campaign. Compare each of the ad networks you visit and compare prices, features and retargeting options. Look at customer reviews and other information. With an ad network, you often pay per click, but this is usually cheaper than traditional pay-per-click advertising.

For email marketing, you need software that allows you to manage your contact list and insert the required tracking code into your emails. When looking for email marketing software, always look at the features available and make sure you have the option to sort your contacts by location.

The best tips for retargeting for local businesses

Now that you know how retargeting works and what it's used for, check out the following tips. These suggestions will help you make better use of your local retargeting efforts.

1. If you're focusing on retargeting for local businesses, you'll probably want to target people who are searching for businesses in your area. Use search engine retargeting to reach more local people.
2. Include promotional offers, digital vouchers or discounts in your adverts to give visitors an additional incentive to make a purchase.
3. Make sure you check your ad network settings and focus on your local region. Don't waste clicks on people who live outside your region.
4. Divide your target audience into segments. If you divide your target audience into segments, you can target your advertising more easily to specific demographic groups.
5. Use multiple online marketing strategies. You shouldn't rely solely on retargeting to drive traffic to your website. Utilise a diverse selection of online marketing techniques, including blogging, social media strategies, targeted emails, press releases and more.

If you are able to understand the individual needs of your customers, you can develop a better way to keep them coming back and buying. Using local retargeting is just one way, and it's extremely effective. Increase your sales and bring visitors back to your website. Learn more about this process and set up your own targeted solutions. If you would like to find out more about how your business can benefit from retargeting, contact us today for a no-obligation consultation.